Which Airline to London?

[Trojan1981]

My wife and I are flying Sydney to London in August. I have found two reasonable fares from MH and BA, Flying economy.
I have not flown with either before and am interested in the opinions of those who have. What are the two like for service and comfort?
Cheers.

[davidash]

I have flown economy on BA from JNB to LHR on several occasions. The service is fine but the economy seating on the 747-400's is awful. I am just over 6ft and find the seats very cramped and probably the worst in my experience. I suggest you trawl the Web as there sre sites which give you the seat pitch and the pros and cons of the various airlines.

[angels]

Used to fly with MH and BA quite a lot from Singapore to Europe and, less frequently, down to Oz.

Of the two I preferred MH, but I found both to be excellent.

If you are lanky then a check of seat pitches may well be in order. If you do the trip in one hop (IE not stop over somewhere) then you will be shagged at the end of your trip, period. 24 hours in a steel tube will see to that.

If you can, stop over for at least a day, preferably two or three, it really does help I assure you!

[Andy_S]

I have found two reasonable fares from MH and BA, Flying economy.
I have not flown with either before and am interested in the opinions of those who have. What are the two like for service and comfort?

MH, no contest. Better seat pitch and better service. Plus BA will only let you check in one bag per person.

The only caveat is that it's not clear whether the BA flight requires a change of plane en-route. I'm guessing that it will be the same aircraft right through to LHR with a stop somewhere. MH will almost certainly require a change of plane in Kuala Lumpur. You might want to consider whether transferring to a connecting flight in K-L is an unwanted inconvenience. On the other hand, as Angels points out, a break en-route might actually be welcome.

[raejones]

With BA you have a choice of going via Bangkok on the Jumbo (BA010) or via Singapore on the B777 (BA016). With either flight its a crew change at the stop and you have to get off the plane and take all your hand luggage with you. Have a good trip. :)

[Big Harvey]

Definitely MH by a country mile.

Normally I choose the cheapest fare I can find, but for a flight of that length, if those two airlines were the only choices on offer, I would actually consider paying slightly more to fly with MH. In my experience though, MH tend to be cheaper anyway.

[Wycombe]

The chaps from across the ditch in NZ offer the best economy legroom of anyone, especially in the 744 (34"), which is now back on the AKL-LAX-LHR run for the Northern Summer, so it might be worth a dog-leg that way out of SYD.

[Andy_S]

MH also offer a 34" pitch (by comparison, BA offers 31").

[gdiphil]

Absolutely no contest here, MH every time if the alternative is BA. The seating is so tight on BA in economy, and I am an average 5'10" male that I have given up on them which is a pity since the product is decent enough. MH however is a superb product with superior seat pitch.

[Michael SWS]

Plus BA will only let you check in one bag per person.Andy, you know full well that this is not true. You made a similar statement in another thread (http://www.pprune.org/passengers-slf-self-loading-freight/376802-fly-united-british-airways.html#post4982183) just a week ago:I don't know how important it is to you, but BA will only allow you to check in 1 bag.and you were corrected (and you acknowledged the correction). Why have you repeated this falsehood?

[G-BPED]

BA has different free baggage allowances depending on where you are travelling to/from.


From Australia the free allowance in Economy is 1 bag.

Details here British Airways - Checked baggage (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_gb)

Regards,

G-BPED

[sea oxen]

Trojan1981

I am surprised that you were able to get a good price in August for BA - everything I've seen is at least £1400 pp on BA/QF - may I ask what you found?

As angels pointed out, the key thing to your comfort is breaking your trip. Two nights in BKK/SIN or KUL will chill you out (wrong expression there) and effectively give you an extra day in Australia.

I usually take the night flight from LHR to BKK, stay for three nights and then take the redeye to SYD, where I get a full day in. For some reason it's easier for me to come back non-stop, tidy up and go to the office.

I'm 190cm tall and it's damned uncomfortable, but I'm not dead yet. I declare a bias here because we have access to BA/QF lounges which makes a hell of a difference. If you have no allegiance, it sounds like MH if the stopover is not an issue.

Sea Oxen

[Andy_S]

Why have you repeated this falsehood?

Because it's not false!

I made a genuine error in making this statement on a previous thread about BA vs United to the USA, so I was quite happy to acknowledge my mistake.

In this case, I am correct. BA will only accept one checked bag per passenger for travel from Sydney to LHR. Check the website for yourself:
British Airways - Checked baggage (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_gb)

But for the sake of convenience I'll repeat the wording:

"World Traveller and Euro Traveller: One standard-sized bag"

I'm sure you'll acknowledge you were wrong to accuse me of "falsehood". Thanks.

[Final 3 Greens]

If one has to undertake a long journey in Y class, the main deciding factor (for me) would be seat pitch.

Therefore I would take MH (actually, if I were you I would seriously consider paying the difference between economy and premium economy for such a long flight and then would choose BA with 38".)

[Trojan1981]

Thank for all the replies and PM. After reading these and checking out the weblinks I attempted to book MH, only to find it now booked out on the dates I wanted to fly!
I then booked BA. I believe it's operated by QF A380 via Singapore out and a BA on 744 via Bangkok the way back. Booked through flight centre.:ok:

[angels]

After all that!! :}

Are you stopping over?

[sea oxen]

Thanks Trojan,

I will ask around.

The seats right up the back on BA 744s are twins, if you ask nicely, you might get them. They are a little cosier for a couple than the three-abreast.

Sea Oxen

[parabellum]

I have used these people a couple of times and they have been very good, sometimes JAL via Tokyo, for instance, is a cheap and quick flight.

Faresaver - Simply offer the best fares! (http://www.faresaver.com.au/)

From SYD to LHR you could also consider SIA as they are using the A380 on that route now, said to be comfortable down the back and they are also offering some quite cheap 'specials' to promote cash flow, that said, the cheapest fare on SIA may have you on a B747 SIN-LHR so worth checking if you go that route.